Aaron Judge passed Alex Rodriguez in the New York Yankees record books on Monday, and A-Rod was quick to shout the slugger out on Twitter.
It’s tough to see your once-glorious records go broken, but when they’re broken by a player blistering toward the record for most home runs in a single American League batter’s season, it’s hard not to tip your cap.
Alex Rodgriguez had to proverbially tip his on Monday as Judge soared past his record for most home runs by a right-handed hitter in New York Yankees history.
Aaron Judge tied Alex Rodriguez’s record for most home runs hit in a single season by a right-handed Yankee batter
Sure, there are a lot of qualifiers to this record, but it’s still an extremely impressive record. Judge’s previous single-season record was 52, set in his sophomore season in 2017. At 54, he’s flirting with the record for most in an American League season.
Judge’s sights are first and foremost set on winning games and getting the Yankees an AL East title. Then, it’s onto the playoffs and hopefully winning a World Series, which the Yankees haven’t done since 2009. But you know he knows about the importance of the number 61 and Roger Maris. Maris, to this day, holds the record for most home runs in a single season by an AL hitter.
Looking at the National League as well, there are five seasons above Maris, but they are all from three hitters whose legacy has come into question due to the usage of performance-enhancing drugs (Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa).
Today? Judge is on pace for 64.8 home runs. He’s in the midst of a hot streak, having hit three home runs in the last three games.
62 to break the AL record looks attainable, and if he has a blistering end to the year, we could see him flirt with the MLB record of 73.